No Man’s Sky hasn’t been updated in about three months, so, in the absence of actual news, we felt it’d be fun to make a wishlist for the game’s next big update across PS4 and PC. There’s hope amongst the community that it’s coming soon, so here are five things we’d like to see.

1) Vehicles: Leaks from November suggested that Hello Games is indeed working on some sort of dune buggy or vehicle system for No Man’s Sky. We hope it’s finished for the next big patch. One of the worst things about starting the game is that players are often prompted with waypoints that are several minutes away in real time. Especially if your systems aren’t well upgraded, transportation can become a real chore.

Having a vehicle would make the explorative aspects of No Man’s Sky more enjoyable because you can see more of what the universe has to offer in less time. Driving isn’t something that should be forced on players, but the option would be appreciated nonetheless.

2) Faction Features : One of the most intriguing features of the early No Man’s Sky vision was the idea of factions. In the current version of the game, standings can increase or decrease depending on the player’s actions, but it’d be a lot cooler if the system were a bit more involved.

What if certain faction leader NPCs could contact you mid-flight to offer a mission? Maybe the race is in dire need of resources or they want you to take part in a feud between a warring group. What if maxing out one's faction loyalty offered a uniquely designed ship? These sorts of features would give the player more to do and could be added to the current framework without changing much beyond what already exists.

3) Ship Depth : Another feature sorely missing from No Man’s Sky that’d be a great addition to a future update would be a deeper ship system. Ships as we know them today are merely a form of gating travel and increasing inventory. For a game based entirely on space exploration, the crafts don’t matter as much as they could.

Flying through space in 'No Man's Sky' Photo: Hello Games

While a change like this would probably require lots of work, we’d love to see ships with vastly different speeds, weapons and design focuses. When No Man’s Sky was in preview, we heard a lot about certain ships that specialize in trade or combat, but that’s not really there. Give me a reason to have several ships for several purposes. If we find one we like, it’d also be nice to customize it with fresh skins, parts and other features. Again, that’s probably a big ask, but it doesn’t hurt to dream.

4) Improved Creature Designs: One of the most obvious differences between the advertised and release versions of No Man’s Sky was contrast in creature design. In the game’s initial trailers we saw massive majestic dinosaurs. What we got last year was a bunch of random arms, bodies and legs slapped together.

With a little more time, it’d be great to see the creature algorithm adjusted so that inhabitants don’t look so repetitive. If it helps, maybe designing creatures closer to real-world expectations would be more palatable. It’s hard to explain, but I just want lifeforms that don’t look so obviously crafted by a formula.

5) A Gosh Darn Release Calendar: While Hello Games hasn’t been totally dead silent since the release of the Foundation Update, the developers have done little more than occasionally retweeting the cool findings of their fans. That kind of activity shows the studio is active, but it doesn’t offer the substantive communication the game’s niche community wants.

Take a cue from other indie outfits like Studio Wildcard and offer release ETAs with a list of confirmed features that can absolutely be delivered. This culture of silence isn’t going to work if you want to keep people interested.

No Man’s Sky is available now on PS4 and PC.

What changes would you like to see in No Man’s Sky’s next big update? When will it release? Tell us in the comments section!